Waste Away to handle Granville Village trash collection

Granville Council voted Sept. 5 to accept a bid by Waste Away Services to provide trash and recycling services for the Village, beginning no later than Nov. 1 of this year.

The contract runs for three years, and will also see billing services taken over by Waste Away, lifting that responsibility from Village employees, who were being overtaxed and kept from their actual duties, according to officials.

The rate for non-senior households will be $20 a month and for senior households will be $18.50 a month under the new agreement.

The new provider will also be providing its own bins, which according to Clerk of Council Mollie Prasher, will include a 96-gallon trash toter, and a 64-gallon recycling toter, per customer household.

The new provider will also extend its service over two-pick up days; those days currently would appear to most likely fall on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Prasher said.

The Village is expected to be broken up into two service zones: the west side and downtown area, then east of the Village, according to Prasher.

She said a flyer will be going out from Waste Away to residents outlining services and providing customer information and billing contacts, and so forth.

Council faced a choice between Waste Away and Local, the latter currently providing trash services to Granville Township.

But those council members who made the decision (members Matt McGowan, Dan Finkelman and Phil Demarest were absent from the Sept. 5 meeting), said they preferred the fact that Waste Away offered a fleet of newer, smaller and so easier to navigate and to-navigate-around vehicles.

They also cited the Heath-based company's proximity to the village, and the fact it should prove far more accessible to customers than current provider Republic, a national firm whose customer service responsibilities have fallen increasingly on village staff, officials stressed.

"I've had people stopping me on the street asking about trash (services)," Mayor Melissa Hartfield said.

She also said of Waste Away, "The fact you have smaller trucks, new trucks, and are here means a lot to me... There's a value to me in having somebody close by."

It was also noted that Waste Away's president, Seth Ellington, was previously general manager for Big-0, with whom the village had its first aggregated contract for refuse service and who, it was said, already has a familiarity with the village and its refuse service needs and expectations.